Elon, N.C.- Following an opening game draw with Howard, the Phoenix (0-0-1) return to Rudd Field for their home opener on Sunday against the Wofford Terriers (0-1). Elon returns for their first home regular season matchup of the season following a 3-3 draw against the Howard Bison.
 
Gabby Hoschek shone in her collegiate debut against the Bison, scoring twice. Hoschek netted the opening goal with a curling shot just inside the box and converted a penalty following a handball in the box from Howard.
 
Lauren McCauley provided a spark to the offense, from the reserves, as she slotted home her first collegiate goal. McCauley finished the game with four shots, a team high against Howard. The back three of Kerri Coffman, Morgan Juran and the captain Katie Lowe all played the full 90 minutes and allowing minimal second half chances.  
 
How to Follow
 

• Sunday's matchup with Wofford will be streamed on FloFC which can be reached by CLICKING HERE.
• Live stats will be available for the matchup with Wofford and will be available by CLICKING HERE.
• Live updates will be available on both X and Instagram during the match @ElonWSoccer.

 
Last Time Out
 

• The Phoenix hit the road their last time out taking on the Howard Bison at Greene Stadium in the District.
• The game began with a scare for the Phoenix as a shot from the Bison deflected off the crossbar, bounced off the upright of the field goal post, off McKenna Dalfonso and in for what appeared to be the first goal of the game. The goal was not allowed by the referee following a discussion with a linesman all within the first minute.
• The Bison began the game fast, taking the first three shots, two of which forced Dalfonso into a save.
• Following the barrage from the Bison in the first 10 minutes, Elon maintained possession in the midfield for a stretch. The stretch was capped off following a strong run from Jones which featured her taking on two defenders then threading an outside-of-the boot pass to Gabby Hoschek. Hoschek then curled a finish into the top right corner from 16 yards out giving the Phoenix an early 1-0 lead.
• Howard would continue their attack down 1-0 and would force a pair of saves from Dalfonso.
• Elon would lose the lead following a five-minute visit from mother nature. In what seemed to be an opening of the heavens, Howard jumped on the counterattack when Alauna Rutland made a run to the outside of the 18-yard box and slotted through Melea Earley who rolled the ball into the bottom, right corner to even up the score.
• Coming out of the half, the Bison struck early to give themselves the first lead of the match. Marli Berry struck the ball from outside of the box, Dalfonso got a touch to deflect it off the crossbar. The ball then ricocheted off Dalfonso's back and into the back of the net to give the Bison a 2-1 lead.
• Following a trio of substitutions from head coach Neil Payne, the Phoenix offense came to life. Freshman Lauren McCauley equaled the score in the 53^rd minute following a brilliant run from Grace Gelhaus. Gelhaus used a series of tricky moves and pace to evade Bison defenders then found McCauley in front of the penalty area who slotted it in the bottom corner for her first career Phoenix goal.
• Still applying the pressure, the Phoenix attack forced a hand ball on Howard in the box and Gabby Hoschek grabbed the ball and headed to the spot. Hoschek laced the ball passed the keeper's outstretched right glove to give the Phoenix the 3-2 lead.
• No more than five minutes later, a Kyra Bolden shot careened off Kerri Coffman and found the back of the net to give the Bison their second goal that had gone off a Phoenix on its way into the goal.
• The score remained 3-3 for the final 30 minutes of the match. The Phoenix trio of Kelly Degnan, McCauley and Ashlee Brehio continued to create chances for the Phoenix but Elon could not find the back of the net again.

 
The All-Time Series
 

• Elon is 6-6-2 in the all-time series against Wofford.
• The Phoenix and Terriers have not met since the Phoenix left the Southern Conference following the 2014 season, ending the series against Wofford until 2023.
• In the 14 matchups between the schools, every match has been a close affair. Only once has the score been settled by more than one goal. 13 of the 14 matches have ended in a draw or by a one goal difference.
• The two schools only met once in the Southern Conference tournament with the Phoenix prevailing in the 2013 SoCon semifinals over the Terriers 1-0.
• This will be the second out of conference meeting all-time meeting between the Phoenix and Terriers with the first matchup coming in 2001 when the Phoenix were members of the Big South Conference.  

Scouting Wofford
 

• The Wofford Terriers enter a new era with a new leader at the helm in first year coach Elissa Post. Post served as Wofford's associate head coach a season ago and was named head coach on May 24^th of this year.
• Wofford returns a veteran in goal with Caroline Doss in between the sticks. Doss currently ranks second in the SoCon among active leaders in goals against average and ranks third in both saves and shutouts.
• In their last time out, the Terriers played a tight contest with Queens University in Charlotte. Wofford put seven shots on goal but could not find the back of the net while Queens capitalized in the 50^th minute with a Sophia Muetterties goal to give Queens the lead for good.
• Wofford returns a rising star in the midfield in Ansley Elizalde. Elizalde was named to the All-SoCon freshman team a year ago while netting a team-high four goals as a freshman for the Terriers.

 
About the Phoenix
 

• Elon enters this matchup with Wofford following another winning season and another top-half finish in the CAA.
• Gabby Hoschek became the first Phoenix to score two goals in one game since Carson Jones bagged two against Furman in the 2021 season.
• The three freshman goals are the most combined first-year goals since Elon first years combined for three against Hampton in 2019 in an 8-0 victory over the Pirates.
• The Phoenix returns seven players who started at least ten games a season ago including three defenders: Katie Lowe, Olivia McManes and Kerri Coffman.
• The midfield trio of Isa Murdock, Rachel Buckle and Kennedy Jones who combined for 44 starts a season ago all return.
• Elon's leading goal scorer Ashlee Brehio following her six-goal season a year ago returns as well. Brehio who was selected to TopDrawer Top 100 Freshman List for her efforts as a first year.  
• The Phoenix claimed two spots on the CAA preseason honorable mention team with junior midfielder Kennedy Jones claiming a spot as well as senior goalie McKenna Dalfonso.
• Elon was projected to finish sixth in the CAA preseason poll, the second straight year the Phoenix have been slotted at sixth by the coaches.
• In three of the past four seasons, the Phoenix have exceeded preseason predictions. Not only winning the CAA title in 2020-21, but in 2019 when the Phoenix were predicted to finish ninth and reached the CAA Tournament semifinals.
• Phoenix head coach Neil Payne enters his sixth season with Elon. Over the past three full seasons, the Phoenix have averaged over nine wins a season including 18 combined victories over the last two years.

Youth Movement
 

• Coach Payne and Coach Olivia Mills bring in a strong recruiting class that is 11 players strong. The first years come from all over and fill a variety of holes from a Phoenix roster that saw a number of key contributors graduate.
• 11 of the 26 members are first years while 16 of the members of the squad are still underclassman.
• Two of the freshmen happen to be twins, Maya and Jenna Abousaab. The Abousaab twins are one of just 18 pairs of twins in NCAA Division I women's soccer.
• The class of 2027 features two local Raleigh products in Iliana Pardo and Gabby Hoschek. Pardo hailing from Leesville Road High School has represented the Puerto Rican U-20 women's national team. Hoschek started every match for her USL W-League team, Wake FC, tallying four goals and two assists.

Colorado Connection
 

• For over a decade, Head Coach Neil Payne was the technical director for Real Colorado SC and has kept strong ties with the club. Payne has created a recruiting pipeline for the Phoenix and this year's roster is ripe with Colorado talent.
• Three players come directly from the Real Colorado system with one player representing a different position on the field. Junior forward Lydia Totten, sophomore midfielder Isa Murdock and freshman defender Morgan Juran all played club for the team.
• Another Colorado native is freshman Ava Werner, who spent her time with the Colorado Rush on the Girl's Academy circuit. Werner hails from Boulder, Colo.
• Most recently, the Phoenix announced an addition to the coaching staff in Sean Sandoval. A former standout defender for Georgia Southern in his collegiate days, he had been coached by Payne in his youth career before becoming a coach at Real Colorado. Sandoval now enters his first season in North Carolina with the Phoenix.

 Backline Veterans
 

• The backline for the Phoenix features a quartet of veterans in defense and two in net.
• Senior Katie Lowe is a two-time preseason all-conference honoree and has started every game as a defender during her Phoenix career. She is joined at the back by a pair of seniors in Emilia Cappellett and Kerri Coffman. The two combined for 18 starts a year ago and were selected as team captains.
• In net brings a pair of upper classmen in senior McKenna Dalfonso and junior Anna Hamner. Dalfonso, a preseason all-conference selection, has numerous defensive player of the week honors and finished last season with seven shutouts, the most by an Elon goalkeeper since 2009. Dalfonso ranks second all-time in program history with 19 career shutouts.  

Preseason All-Conference
 

• Elon goalkeeper McKenna Dalfonso and midfielder Kennedy Jones were selected to the CAA preseason all-conference team. Both players received honorable mention honors.
• Dalfonso was one of three goalkeepers named to the preseason list and Jones joins her sister Carson as the only Phoenix sisters to both receive all-conference selections.
• Dalfonso already has her named littered all over the Phoenix record book. She enters the season second in career shutouts (19) while being top-10 in minutes, games played, and goalkeeper games played. She has made 128 career saves and allowed just 1.10 goals per game.
• Jones has been a staple of the Phoenix midfield since her freshman season. She has appeared in 32 career games and made 16 starts alone last season. She helped the Phoenix to six shutouts and scored two goals last during the 2022 season.

 
Up Next
 

• Elon will hit the road for the second consecutive Thursday as they head to Farmville, Va. to take on the Longwood Lancers. That game is scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m.